


The Ghost of Christmas Memory

by dwyndling



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Christmas, Espionage, Gen, Multi, Other, im sorry abt the Shrek reference, santa clause? namine.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwyndling/pseuds/dwyndling
Summary: Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,No creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	The Ghost of Christmas Memory

**Author's Note:**

> “It’s a fantasy universe why would they have anything like Christm-” yeah, yeah, we know, but is the Kingdom Hearts section of ao3 really the place to be peddling realism? Anyway, now we begin.

Nothing stirs, save for a soft rustling of the curtains.

Naminé takes one cautious step forward...and then another...careful that her sandals don’t make any sound on the smooth floors. Sound echoes loudly in the grand room, and it wouldn’t do to wake the residents here, all of whom suffer from acute insomnia.

Just a few more steps...and then she can deposit her current burdens and flee, with no trace she was ever here to begin with.

Three more...two more...one more…

And with that she’s reached the tree that stands imposingly at the center of the common room. Hmm...should they go here? Among the other presents already sitting at the foot of the majestic fir? 

Or perhaps in the stockings that hang proudly on the mantle, above the ivory hearth? A large red one is to the left, a slender silver one hangs in the center, and two quaint plaid stockings ornament the right side, suspended from nails. All four seem well stocked, and it makes Naminé’s heart give a happy little chirp to see it.

The smaller boxes she carries will go well among those at the foot of the tree. The Fira lit candles have all been long snuffed out, and the tree is silent and grey in the dark, save for where the ornaments reflect the moonlight spilling through the tall windows. 

Kairi’s backpack is a firm weight on her shoulders, and Naminé kneels down to gently unzip it. Their offerings are humble, but…

She and Kairi spent the whole week deliberating on the right Christmas gift to give to the right person. It was time spent divided between worlds, across cities, and with much consternation if the intended recipient would enjoy _this_ or perhaps a red one more.

The first package she pulls from the backpack is wrapped in shiny silver paper, and pleasingly oblong. It’s nothing much, simply a book of short poems, but Naminé hopes that Terra will enjoy it. Something about the earnestness of the words within beckoned to her, and it’s with her whole heart that she hopes something within can soothe the regret and pain that Terra still carries in his shoulders.

_She won’t be there to see it, but he will. The boy who never spent time reading is now a man who curls up in quiet corners for hours, with a calm smile as he peruses the words._

The second bundle she retrieves is much more plush, and even the feel of it in her hands brings a half-smile to her face. Under Kairi’s direction, who is much more adept with felt and needlepoint than she is, she’s crafted a small replica of the stout Dream Eater who’s taken to following Ven around. It’s hardly the most elegant or illustrious gift, but she hopes Ven will appreciate it’s squishiness. 

_Chirithy is both charmed and confused by this homage. Ven giggles every time he sees it proudly displayed on his shelf._

The next package is from Kairi, addressed in cutesy cursive “To Terra”. It’s handmade, a pale rust colored scarf interwoven with threads of shiny blue and green, and quite long. It might even be _too_ long for Terra, as Kairi more than overestimated his height, but perhaps he can use it as a blanket in a pinch.

_He loves it. When the Land of Departure is touched by the first gentle snowfall later that month, he rarely takes it off._

Now this...this is a gift. It’s hardly a secret that Ventus’s shadow is now harboring himself within the austere halls of the Land of Departure. Naminé doesn’t quite know the circumstances of his being there, or even quite where or when he came from, but the fact remains that the boy with Sora’s face and none of his light now resides with Master Eraqus’s erstwhile apprentices. 

Kairi bought him a shirt, a red one, with the visage of a green ogre-like creature on it. Naminé doesn’t claim to know the “why” of what possessed Kairi to gift the boy with something like this, but perhaps they have some sort of understanding between them. 

_In a move that confuses all, he actually wears it. The neutral glare of the boy above coupled with the confident smirk of the green face on the shirt is a sight to see._

From one of the side pockets of the backpack, a small box wrapped in shiny silver is brought forth. This one is addressed to Master Aqua, and Naminé can only hope she won’t find it too frivolous. It’s a shimmery silver bangle, adorned with dainty little star charms. Even if the serious Master of Departure doesn’t wear needless jewelry…it was beyond Naminé to find anything to suit such a dignified and graceful person better. It shimmers even in the low light, and hopefully it too can serve as a good luck charm for one weary of walking in darkness.

_The Master wears it proudly. Indeed, she is not one for frivolous things, but in times of peace, there is no harm in the extra sparkle at her wrist._

Kairi has knit Ven a little replica of Wayward Wind. It’s attached to a silver key ring, so perhaps he can attach it to a bag, or even a belt. Perhaps he’s a bit bashful about it, but it hasn’t escaped Kairi’s notice that Ventus has a love for small and cute things. The contents of this dainty little package in shiny golden paper will hopefully make him smile whenever he sees it.

_It sits comfortably on a new duffel bag, a quaint and heartfelt distinguishing feature._

The last two presents to be left at this destination were made in tandem, not too long ago. Kairi knows all the best places to find colorful shells, and eagerly taught Naminé how to string them together properly. It is slow work for her, as her gentle hands try to get everything right on the first try, but slow and steady wins the race. The fruits of their efforts are sturdy, and charming to boot. 

Kairi constructed a star shaped charm, made of pale blue shells. Aqua certainly has her own, but hopefully a Wayfinder from Destiny Islands, in the style of that which she’d attempted to replicate, will simply be seen as a sign of good faith. There is a long note attached, which Naminé has not read and does not plan to, but safe to say Master Aqua will certainly treasure the correspondence. 

_A returning letter is written within the next few days. The seashell wayfinder adorns Master Aqua’s belt, alongside it’s metal and glass counterpart._

Naminé’s humble offering hardly seems so heartfelt, but she thinks Vanitas will appreciate the colors, if nothing else. It was a task, to find shells with such vibrant quantities of scarlet and deep black, but she succeeded in finding a handful of them, small and sturdy enough to function as beads on a string. It’s not a long necklace, short enough to still be practical with great amounts of movement, even if she doesn’t really think he’ll wear it. 

_He will. Ven won’t comment, but he will be confused._

A soft footfall sounds out, and Naminé’s head jerks up. 

Terra stands in the doorway, poking his head into the room with wide eyes. When he sees her, knelt there positioning boxes with the expression of a deer in the headlights, he nods once, gives her a slightly awkward thumbs up, and ducks away, presumably back down the hall.

Naminé gives a silent sigh of relief. Hopefully she didn’t wake him...or maybe that is what she should hope for. Either way, it is time to leave.

A dark corridor comes at the call of a wave of her hand, and she ducks into the shadowy awning, backpack now half empty. There is one more stop for the night, and then she can return home.

It is still and quiet, in the house in Twilight Town, but notably less grand. There are four identical red stockings decorating the hearth, all of which look brand new. The tree nearby is silver, and presumably made of plastic, but the handmade ornaments that decorate its boughs are charming in their clumsiness.

Naminé scuttles across the carpet of the living room, and ducks down behind an armchair, close to the foot of the tree. In this house too, shimmering presents already sit there, glimmering in anticipation of the morning.

Her offerings will only add to the pile. The first box she withdraws from Kairi’s backpack is the largest, and the one containing the most breakable contents. 

It was no small task, but largely in thanks to Kairi, they persevered. Naminé does not know the first thing about cooking or baking, but somehow, they ended their culinary pursuits with a plate of cookies that were actually edible. Decorations were much easier for her, and painting with red and green icing is not so different than using paint, or crayons, albeit much tastier. 

Perhaps it was because they simply did not know what to get for Isa, that they settled on baked goods. Kairi slipped a note inside the box at the last moment, and Naminé isn’t certain if the note contains either forgiveness or further condemnation for past kidnappings, or some combination of the two. Either way, she hopes the serious man will like the cookies.

_He does. They couldn’t really have known about his sweet tooth without prior investigation, but somehow the nail was hit on the head. The plate is gone within two days._

The next parcel, wrapped in shimmery blue, is much squishier, and pliant beneath her grip. Kairi has taken up needlepoint, when exactly, Naminé isn’t sure, but the fact remains her Other has gotten quite handy with a needle and thread. Her talents were spent towards this somewhat lumpy offering; a throw pillow with a threaded illustration of Lea, Merlin, and Kairi herself, a sort of commemoration for their training days.

_Lea, being Lea, puts it on a chair in the living room, and feels compelled to tell everyone who visits about his friend with the ‘wicked sewing skills’. Kairi laughs it off later, but Naminé doesn’t miss the hint of pride in her expression._

Naminé’s own gift for the erstwhile assassin is something along similar lines. It initially seems little more than a normal Christmas card, but inside is a small collection of pictures, of memories that were special to both of them. An old mansion features heavily, and the pictures are sprinkled with the pale blue of that particular ice cream.

_When he opens it in front of everyone, they joke that he’ll cry about it later. Good naturedly, he decries this claim. He does, in fact, cry about it later._

It was somewhat unwieldy to wrap the next present, so she settled for a flat white envelope with a bow secured to the front of it. Two pages are included within, one, a letter she drafted, and rewrote, and rewrote again. The second...a drawing, of the two of them, smiling under the sun. She knows Roxas understands the feeling she had wanted to convey with that picture. She knows he feels it too: the ever present hum of being alive, never one to take for granted.

_Roxas frames the picture, and files the letter away in a box with his other treasured things. They have so many more conversations yet to have; other letters and other ___ will follow._

Naminé smiles as she removes the next package from the backpack, wrapped in gold and scarlet paper. This gift from Kairi...she would be lying if she said she understood it, but…

For Roxas, Kairi had selected a fuzzy...something It is checkered in black and white, a pattern Roxas seems to favor, but Naminé doesn’t quite understand the significance of this piece of material with googly eyes glued to it. What did Kairi call it? A worm on a string?

_Regardless, Roxas not only seems to understand the strange offering but greatly appreciate it. There are few days when it is not in his pocket, ready to be introduced to the world at any given time._

The envelope attached to Xion’s gift is quite weighty, as Naminé’s letter to her spanned several pages. The gift itself is more simple, a bracelet made from small white shells, which have been polished until they glisten like pearls. 

_Xion rarely takes it off._

Completely by coincidence, Kairi’s gift to the girl is somewhat similar, a baby blue necklace made of oversized round beads, clasped in the back with a blue silk bow. A small note is tucked alongside, a recognition, and the catalyst of a conversation long in the making.

_The necklace is featured heavily on Xion’s Kingstagram page, who seems to have accepted it as the height of fashion._

The backpack is now empty, and Naminé rises to her feet, turning to go. 

Eyes glint at her, through the darkness of the kitchen, and Naminé jumps, jolting slightly into the air. 

Lea winks at her, from where he stands, half in the kitchen, half in the hall beyond. He raises a single finger to his lips in a shushing motion, and gestures behind him. He’s wearing the most atrocious sweater she’s ever seen, a visual cacophony from an artistic standpoint...but now is not the time to comment on that.

Naminé nods, silent as can be, and skitters over to the waiting corridor. Her work here is done.

The corridor deposits her in the bedroom she and Kairi share. There, in the large armchair chair, Kairi herself is curled up, as though she stayed up to wait, but slipped away into sleep all the same.

Leaving the backpack placed carefully aside, Naminé curls up beside her. The miniature pink Christmas tree in Kairi’s room is clearly visible from their seat...as well as the presents there; the presents who have no home to be deposited within.

 _To Sora_ , one package reads. Naminé watched Kairi wrap it, and knows that within is a knitted heart of red yarn, a vessel for carrying a note that Kairi had written over the course of an afternoon, and promptly folded up and out of sight.

Of course, another is branded with _To Riku_. Another package from Kairi. Within...within is a seashell charm, made of five thalassa shells strung together. A wayfinder charm, where before none had been bestowed. Waiting...waiting for it’s receiver to return.

She could think of no such material thing, no special charm or item to imbue with all her hopes and wishes for their return. 

However, there was still that thing that she, Naminé, could do, which no one else could. A single thing, which could perhaps be the most important thing of all.

And so she took up an astral paintbrush, and painted the chains of memories tying Riku and Sora to her, to Kairi, to Roxas, to them all, with gently glittering gold. A guiding light to call them home, a refreshment to still raw wounds and bonds, a lighthouse, gleaming in the dark. 

Something that could call out into the darkness like a star, and guide two wayward souls back home into waiting arms.

  
  


_Reconnect._

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> ...I couldn't resist the popular, but historical inaccurate Bethlehem reference. Anyway. Happy Holidays, and if you don't particularly celebrate anything, have a great day!! Whether you're alone, with friends, with family, or if you wish you were alone, or with someone that you aren't with, I'm sending you good vibes!!!


End file.
